Misery Loves Company
Misery Loves Company is the sixteenth episode of Season 3 of Pretty Little Liars. It aired on January 22, 2013. Synopsis Aria is down for the count when the sideline by the flu, so Hanna and Emily are on their own to follow up on a new clue. We find Mona and Toby planning their next assault on the girls in the new A's Lair, Mona busy deactivating a security system on her computer, while Toby mentions that he feels like they're going forward with this plan too fast. Mona retorts that it's not her decision, and that the girl's need to realize that "A" is still calling the shots. Emily goes to Toby's loft early in the morning after opening up the Brew. She brings him coffee and agrees to wait for the plumber who will be showing up at 9AM. Emily is reading Lord of the Flies for English class and says she identifies with the boys in the book. She and her friends stick together no matter what and they are stronger for it. Toby questions Emily about how Mona has been treating them since she has been back at Rosewood High. Emily lies when Toby asks if she would tell him if the "A" texts had started up again. Toby gives Emiliy the keys to the loft and as soon as he leaves, Emily calls Spencer to tell her "mission accomplished." Meredith steps up to help take care of Aria while her father is away, but when it starts to look like Meredith may have ulterior motives to her nursing Aria back to health, Hanna and Emily turn their attention towards saving their friend. Their attentions are sidetracked, however, when Hanna overhears Caleb talking to someone on the phone about her and Mona, saying he will meet up with them later. Hanna asks Emily to spy on Caleb to see who he is going to meet, so Hanna can go to her interview for a fashion designer. If Emily stayed any longer, she would've learned that Paige was meeting Caleb. Meanwhile, Spencer takes a break from all the sleuthing to surprise Toby for their first anniversary, convincing him that she would be at a dinner with the family all night, instead of her surprise dinner-date with him. It is revealed Meredith had been drugging Aria with some type of medication, causing her to sleep for days. Hanna arrives at her interview only to find it is a set up by "A." The encounter is quick and brief, and Hanna is merely knocked when "A" (Toby at the time) pushes her down with a line of mannequins. While making his/her escape, "A" drops, (rather haphazardly) a key, only feet in front of Hanna, which Hanna soon gives to Spencer, to act as an interim counselor for her as she deals with her new found fear. While fading in and out of consciousness, Aria is visited by Alison. Alison quickly finds Aria's hiding place for the pages from her diary and is about to leave before Aria stirs, and speaks with Alison, convinced she is a ghost. Aria asks if her father killed Alison, to which Alison replies "Do I look dead to you?" Just before disappearing she says "You know why I picked you, right?" Emily, realizing that neither she nor Hanna has heard from Aria in a while decide to go check up on her at her house. They find the door unlocked, and are met in Aria's room by Meredith. Meredith tricks them into going into the basement where she locks them in with an unconscious Aria. Byron comes home in the nick of time, alarmed to find out from Meredith that Aria knows everything about their affair and how he talked with Alison the night she died, but proving himself trustworthy - for now - by revealing to the three girls what really happened that night (i.e. how he didn't kill Alison) and deciding to do the right thing by going to the police. Aria stops him from turning himself in by revealing that she still has pages from the diary, which she burns, showing her trust in her father. Toby sneaks into the Hastings house to retrieve the key from the drawer and is quickly discovered by Spencer. They briefly confront one another, Spencer smacking him, He asking how long she knew, before Spencer is distracted by her mother's call and Toby smoothly escapes. Later Spencer is see at the doorstep of his apartment, begging to talk, wanting to believe that it isn't true, but instead of Toby being inside, we see a smiling Mona, sipping on wine meant for Spencer, at the table Spencer set as a surprise for Toby. Notes *This was be creator/producer/writer Marlene King's first episode to direct. *This episode takes place on November 6, as Caleb's computer password indicates that he and Hanna's first time was on November 5, and Toby and Spencer's first kiss was the morning after (November 6). Since this is their first anniversary, it must be the following November 6. *Marlene King tweeted that her favorite line in this episode is "Do I look dead to you? I'm more alive than I've ever been." from Alison when she visits Aria for the first time. *It is revealed that Byron did not kill Alison, but it is implied that Melissa did. *Someone resembling Alison in the Red Coat is seen as Hanna goes into the "Interview" *Spencer finds out about Toby being "A" on their anniversary and it breaks her heart. *Mona, in her "A" gear, is seen in Toby's apartment, alone, and smiling, possibly implying that she could have placed the Radley I.D. in his drawer. *It is possible that part of the plan Toby suggested was being put into play too soon early in the episode, is a plan to in fact expose Toby. His I.D. card may purposely have been planted, and it certainly looks as if the "A" key was thrown at Hanna, rather than accidentally dropped. We know Toby must be a good actor for being a member of the A Team, so his surprise at being caught could've totally been an act. Also, it explains why Mona would know to be at Toby's apartment, sipping on Spencer's wine, having anticipated Spencer would come to grovel, or just because she's on the A-team and wanted to have a nice meal with her teammate. *The line 'Tell me it's not true' is from Blood Brothers. The play is about twins separated at birth and reunited later on. This could be a reference to Alison and Courtney or even Alison and Hanna. This could explain why Ashley Marin saw one of the twins in "This Is A Dark Ride. " *Hanna disregards her rule of "I wear three inches or I wear nothing." Quotes Featured Music *Shout Now by Melissa Etheridge (Mona and Toby talking about their plan) *Salty sweet by ms mr (Emily follows caleb, Hanna gets ready for her interview and spencer at Toby's apartment) *A Cycle by Metthew Mayfield (Paige and Caleb meet at The Brew) *Goldberg Variations BWV 988 Aria da Capo by Johann S. Bach (Spencer sobs outside of Tobys Apartment) Title *The title is a popular idiom, that means 'Unhappy people like other people to be unhappy too,' which may mean that since one of the Liars' may be miserable, someone else will be miserable with them too. *Veronica Hastings using this idiom early in the episode when she and Spencer are discussing why they have to attend Mr. Hastings awards ceremony (which is a cover for the anniversary dinner Spencer has planned for Toby). *The title may also refer to what Toby said in the Season 1 episode Keep Your Friends Close. "I've got friends in all the wrong places, and '''misery loves company."' *The episode is based upon Stephen King's book "Misery". In fact, the episode has a lot of similarities to the book. Such is Meredith locking Aria in her room like Annie did to Paul. Another is the basement scene when she locks Aria, Hanna, Emily in there. Annie had done this to Paul and Buster. *Misery Loves Company'' is also the name of the 10th Episode of Season 5 of The CW series 90210, which is also the winter premiere. Main Cast *Troian Bellisario as Spencer Hastings *Ashley Benson as Hanna Marin *Lucy Hale as Aria Montgomery *Shay Mitchell as Emily Fields *Sasha Pieterse as Alison DiLaurentis Supporting Cast *Chad Lowe as Byron Montgomery *Holly Marie Combs as Ella Montgomery *Lesley Fera as Veronica Hastings *Janel Parrish as Mona Vanderwaal *Tyler Blackburn as Caleb Rivers *Keegan Allen as Toby Cavanaugh *Amanda Schull as Meredith Sorenson *Torrey DeVitto as Melissa Hastings *Craig Tsuyumine as Pharmacist *Lindsey Shaw as Paige McCullers Gallery Navigational Category:Season 3 Category:Episodes Category:3B Category:Pretty Little Liars TV Series Category:ABC Family